Thunder
by Maybud
Summary: Ema is stuck at her office late at night during a thunderstorm, which brings back some bad memories. (I am truly awful with summaries)


A/N: As you guys might have guessed, I'm a huge Klema fan, so I present you with another fic about one of my favorite pairings. I'm still working on polishing up my writing skills again, so I decided to re-write a fic I did almost two years ago for the kink meme. (It was really shoddy, though, ugh! It was painful for me to read through, and I'm so embarrassed I even put it on the internet *shudder*) Anyway, it's not my best, but I hope you enjoy!

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"Why does that stupid glimmerous fop always do this to me?" Ema muttered to herself while angrily munching Snackoo's. She took a deep breath to calm herself down, but immediately lost her cool again when she saw all the paperwork littered on her desk. "_He always gives me a ton of desk work and expects me to finish it in such a short amount of time. Who does he think I am, Super Detective or something?_" She thought.

Ema glanced at the clock on the wall and realized that it was already way past the end of her shift. "Screw this!" She yelled angrily. Ema quickly grabbed her bag and stuffed her Snackoos and other belongings in her bag. "If he thinks I'm gonna stay here all night to finish this, he's got another thing coming!"

Ema stood up with a huff, and began packing everything in her bag. "I better get overtime for this." She muttered as she slung the bag full of paperwork and Snackoo's over her shoulder. Just as she was leaving, she took a glance out the window, and noticed the light drizzle that was coming down earlier had turned into a torrent of rain. "_It hasn't rained this hard in a long time," _She noted as she continued to gaze outside the window. Suddenly she shivered, and she pulled her lab coat around herself, though it didn't seem to warm her at all. "I hope I can still drive in this kind of weather." She wondered aloud as she headed for the door. It was pretty bad, and the majority of people in Los Angeles tend to forget how to navigate if there's so much as a drop of rain, especially at night. She already had to go and deal with a stupid glimmerous fop, and the last thing she wanted was to deal with reckless drivers as well.

Suddenly she heard the wind pick up as well. "We'll, isn't that just great?" She asked the empty room. The reply came in the form of shockingly loud thunder. Ema jumped and dropped her bag, the contents spilling onto the floor. "Perfect." She mumbled shakily, as the thunder had unnerved her. "_There hasn't been weather this bad since...since…that time..."_

Then the lights went out.

The room became eerily silent in wake of the loud crash of thunder, and the only sound Ema could hear was that of her own quick heartbeat and shaky breathing. She stood in the silent darkness for a while, hoping her eyes would adjust to the night around her. Tentatively, she bent down to pick up what was in her bag when another peal of thunder shook through the room. This time Ema covered her ears and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the sound. Everything about the storm reminded her of that fateful night in the prosecutor's office, when a certain serial killer had broken into the her sisters office. It was the closest brush to death she had ever experienced, and it was something she never wanted to go through again.

In her mind's eye, she could his cold, cruel eyes boring right through her, and hear the murderous rage in his voice as he threatened to kill her. She shook her head, trying to dispel the memories. "Don't be stupid, Ema." She whispered angrily to herself. "Joe Darke is long dead, you don't have anything to fear from him anymore." She opened her eyes slowly, hoping she would adjust to the darkness soon enough, when she was met with a pair of eyes.

Joe Darke's eyes.

She recognized those pale, vile eyes anywhere, and often saw them in her nightmares when she was young. They were the same as they were all those years ago, void of emotion but brimming with malice.

Ema took a deep breath. "Ok, this isn't real." She said aloud to calm herself. "O-obviously I'm having some sort of panic attack brought on by the storm." She slowly backed away from the pair of eyes. "An extra release of the chemicals cortisol and epinephrine are rushing through my system, paired with the lack of visual perception due to the blackout and the sounds of the storm is making you see things. It's nothing, Ema. Just basic science. Survival. Not real. Ghosts don't exist." She concluded shakily.

She stood motionless for a few more minutes, trying to blink the eyes away. When it didn't work, she rubbed her own eyes, hoping but knowing it wouldn't clear her vision.

Rubbing her eyes seemed to have the opposite effect. Instead, she saw more of his profile, if not almost his whole body.

"This is stupid." Ema said, shaking her head and shuddering. "He's not even really blocking the door, I'm just gonna step around and-"

"I wouldn't step anywhere, Ema."

His words were accompanied by the sound of thunder and a flash of lightning. The sound of his voice sent an ice-cold shiver down her spine. His voice sounded like they did all those years ago; calculated and calm, yet devoid of any and all emotion.

"If you go anywhere, I'm going to kill you. You're my hostage, remember?"

Ema tried to swallow, but her mouth became suddenly dry. "No," she croaked. "I'm not. You're dead. Dead. You died years ago, you're just a stupid, fear-induced hallucination, you can't hurt me."

Joe Darke smiled in the darkness. "Are you sure about that?" He asked as he brandished a knife.

Just like that, her mind reeled back to the day she was held prisoner in the prosecutors office. He was there, pacing the prosecutors office with knife firmly held in hand, the lighting reflecting off of it. Ema sat huddled in the corner, sobbing uncontrollably while she tried to block out the sound of the unrelenting thunder booming in the room.

Ema shook her head, trying to quell the memories. "You're not real," She muttered weakly. "You can't hurt me, so go away!"

Suddenly he was gone from in front of her. She glanced about the dark room, trying to gauge his presence, then realized she would never be able to sense the presence of someone who wasn't there in the first place. She breathed a sigh of relief, and looked out the window briefly, only to see the rain pouring down harder before. Ema took one last glance out the window, then headed for the door, more ready that she had ever been in her entire career as a detective to leave her office.

She only had enough time to barely brush the doorknob with her fingers before she felt something cold press against her neck. Ema let out a choked gasp, and reached a hand towards her neck. She knew it couldn't be possible, yet she could feel the sharpness of the knife's blade on her fingertips.

Ema couldn't breathe. He was going to kill her. He was finally going to kill her, after all those years. What did he want from her? What had he ever wanted from her? Hot tears streaked down her face as she knew what was happening couldn't possibly be reality. She took one deep shuddering breath, the one she feared would be her last, when thunder shook the room again.

To her relief, she couldn't feel the knife on her neck anymore. She looked behind her and saw that Joe Darke- "_No, not Joe Darke. He's dead"-_ was no longer behind her. She scanned every corner of the room with her eyes, and saw that no more hallucinations were lurking around in her office. She turned back to the door, only to feel something under her feet.

The knife he had been holding was near the toes of her feet. The moonlight revealed wet blood glistening on the blade.

That was it for Ema. She backed away from the knife as fast as she could, and bumped into the side of her desk. She slumped down onto the floor, and drew her knees up to her chest. "Go away!" She sobbed. She buried her face in hands, trying to forget the image of the blood stained knife that only lay a few feet from her. "Please," she begged, "Don't hurt me...Please!"

"Ema?"

She quickly lifted her head. Standing above her was a dim figure with a pair of blue eyes, filled with concern.

"Ema? What's wrong? Are you hurt?" He asked, crouching down in front of her. Her silence continued to unnerve him. "Seriously, Fraulein Detective, are you alright?" Before she could answer, thunder shook the room again. Ema screamed, and grabbed onto the nearest thing to her.

Which, incidentally, was Klavier Gavin.

She grabbed on to him tightly, shaking and crying. "Fraulein?" Klavier implored. "Are you okay?" He placed a hand on her back. She pulled away from him slightly, and looked up at him. Klavier had never seen her like this. Her eyes were red and puffy, and tears flowed out them freely. She seemed to be unable to stop sniffing. "I...I.." Before she could answer, thunder boomed again. Ema gasped, then buried her face back in Klavier's chest.

"_Ah, she is afraid of thunder, then?" _Klavier wondered. "_This is bad, I should get her out of here.."_ He thought. He began to rub her back soothingly. "Shhh, it's OK Ema. Your OK. Nothings going to hurt you. I am here for you now, ja? I'll protect you, I promise." He whispered.

He moved his hand to stroke her hair, and her cries quieted down slightly. When she stopped crying, he rose to his feet to help her up. "Come on, I'll take you home." He offered. Ema sniffled, then shook her head. "M-my car…" She mumbled weakly.

"It's ok. You can leave it here overnight."

Ema shook her head again. "I'll get a ticket."

"Nein." Klavier said with a dismissive wave. "Tickets are nothing when your boss is a kind and caring prosecutor, ja? Besides, you are too shaken up to drive, and in this rain too? Nein, I will take you home, for sure."

Despite how she felt, Ema smiled. "I see you're dishing out favors, huh? Any chance you can promote me to the forensics department while you're at it. "

Klavier laughed. "You don't want me to get in major trouble, do you? A ticket is one thing, sketchy promotions another."

Ema smiled again, but it faltered quickly. They walked side by side into the lobby of the police department when Ema stopped.

Klavier had taken a few steps ahead of her, but paused when he realized she was behind him. "Fraulein Detective? Is everything alright?"

Ema stood looking at Klavier with curiosity written all over her face. "What are you at the police department so late, anyway? Almost everyone is at home except the usual patrol guys…"

"Hm? Is it a crime for me to visit the police department, Fraulein?" Klavier teased.

"No, I mean...I was just wondering.."

"Maybe a certain prosecutor was worried about a certain detective who had to work overtime."

Ema huffed. "Well, that was a certain foppish prosecutors fault, anyway."

Klavier chucked. "Well, it's a good thing I stopped by. Also, there was a blackout in the prosecutors offices too, so I came to check. See, you were not the only one working overtime, ja?"

Ema nodded, but didn't say anymore. Klavier opened the main entrance's glass door, and waited for Ema to walk through, but she didn't move from her spot. Instead she stared out into the storm. She watched as the rain poured from the sky, drenching the world outside, and watched transfixed as a stray flash of lightning lit up the sky with the sound of thunder following close behind.

"Ema?" Klavier called, pulling Ema out of her trance. He sighed, and closed the door behind him. "You are afraid of thunder, ja?" He asked.

Ema nodded slowly, wrapping her arms around herself. "I...well, I had a bad experience during a thunderstorm when I was sixteen. They don't actually bother me that much anymore, but tonight's storm is really bad, almost just like that night. It really scared me."

"Ah, I'm sorry, Ema." Klavier said, stepping closer to her. He draped his arm across her shoulder. "Whatever it is, I'll help you, ja? So don't be scared. I'm here now."

Again, Ema's face betrayed what she was really feeling with a blush.

Klavier smiled. "At least you seem to be feeling better."

Ema rolled her eyes, but couldn't stay irritated for long. "Klavier...did you really mean what you said? About protecting me?"

Klavier turned to look at her. Before he could even answer Ema could see the truth in his eyes. They looked more sincere than she'd ever seen before.

Still, he answered. "Of course, mein leibe. It is not something I would joke about, ja?" He asked teasingly, giving her his trademark smirk. Ema was about to interject, when Klavier suddenly leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

Ema's heart sped up, and she swore her face felt warm enough to dispel the cold outside.

"Of course, I have to protect my precious Fraulein Detective."

Thunder crashed outside again, and it's loud boom reverberated loudly in the lobby.

But somehow, Ema really didn't care about the thunder anymore.


End file.
